To think fruit shoots are okay for 6-7 year olds?

[NameChanger2028]

...or do i need to find a healthier option? This is for DD's 7th party next week. Self catered, 25 x 6-7 year olds (most of them still 6). No access to drinking water due to venue location. I'm taking usual kids party food - ham / cheese sandwiches, cheese, fruit & veg platters, mini sausages etc. I'm struggling for drinks as will be unable to do the usual jugs of squash/water. So I'm looking for a pre-packed option. Will get bottles of water but a bit boring to have that as the only option at a kids party, so would like the kids to have an option of a flavoured drink - are fruit shoots okay to give out to all the kids or will the other parents judge? I know actual fruit juice cartons may be better - but serving, actual fruit, cake and sweet cones, so ideally the drink will be lower sugar. fruit shoots are what I'm thinking....

No it’s not the sugar, it’s the fact that fruit shoots and other squash type drinks are ultra processed with a load of chemical additives whereas smoothies and juices are not.

If innocent smoothies are too expensive then my preference would be cartons of juice, even from concentrate, which is similarly priced if not cheaper than fruit shoots.

Yes it’s a party but that doesn’t mean you have to give only rubbish. Kids like the taste of juice as much if not more than a fruit shoot in my experience.

Make them up at home.

Take the bottle of water, open, tip a little bit out, add squash and shake. Now you have a bottle of pre-made squash. So a couple of different flavours.

Bring these bottles and some paper cups and you're good.

Fruit Shoots are fine if that's what you prefer, but they will be more expensive and create so much plastic waste. They're also gross! They're small so if the kids are running around and getting hot you'll need multiple shoots per child. It just seems much better on every measure to bring some pre-made squash and some paper cups!

Jeeesus, it's a one off... Your child probs loved it

We did mini milks both plain and chocolate, and cans of low sugar soft drinks. All from Aldi.

eww no fruit shoots are rank, i can recommend this fresh orange juice Radnor Fruits Orange 200ml Cartons – Pack of 24 | School Compliant Juice Drink i would try and stick to fresh juices rather than concentrated ones

Eh?

I think that poster was quite obviously having a joke..

You're offering a fuit shoot, not a shot of heroin.

Anyone with specific preferences or particularly strong feelings will bring their own. My child only drinks a specific brand of squash (and milk and water before anyone reports me to social services!) so we always take a drink bottle with us.

Others have said jugs/squash/large bottles of water. Depending on your venue, fruit shoots may be logistically easier than knocked over cups/bygs in jugs etc. but I would want to make sure, as far as reasonably possible, that all the plastic was collected for recycling.

It’s absolutely fine! Just be prepared for them to all be drinking out of each others 🤣 I usually just grab a few boxes of the Aldi ones to save money. If you do paper plates too you can just scoop it all into a bin liner at the end (yes I do understand this isn’t the most environmentally friendly option)

They're worse for kids than fruit shoots

Kids love a little bottle of squash!

I think it’s fine to give them fruit shoots as well, but you must have bottles of water for the kids if you can’t have jugs of tap water.

They’ll be running around and getting thirsty and only water really cuts it for that. I would be fed up as a parent to find there was no option for the kids to drink plenty of water.

Water or real juice cartons

Fruit shoots are fine, load of kids party’s we’ve been to have them. My kids also like the little kids bottles of flavoured water so you could get some of those too.

My 5 year old once drunk an estimated 7 fruit shoots at a party 😬

These are super popular with high school kids and it’s a decent sized bottle
https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/radnor-splash-apple-raspberry-still-water/111648838

No, they’re not.

Tell me you’re loaded without telling me….

@Bloau Do other places not call it “juice”?! 😳 Fellow Scot here and I had no idea 😅
I agree though, Fruit Shoots of juice cartons at parties is the norm here.

@NameChanger2028 DSs 5th birthday we had a party in the town hall with a bouncy castle and face painter etc and the amount of juice the kids went through was unreal 😅 So make sure you allow for more than 1 per child. I thought I had way over catered and would come home with loads and I came home with scraps 😅
Definitely include plenty of water too.

I’d like to hope most parents wouldn’t judge what’s at a kids birthday party. It’s a party! Surely it’s not expected to be the healthiest meal of the week?! 😅

The only time I felt a bit odd about what was served at a party was for DSs friends 5th party where the parents had just made all their DDs favourite foods 🫣 So there were piles of ham sandwiches with no alternatives, wotsits, chocolate cupcakes, various other sweets etc and full size cans of full sugar juice for the kids 😅 No water or squash or anything.
Fine if that’s what they want to have at a party but I do think it’s nice to have a few options of sandwich fillings etc so there’s something for most kids!

I always had fruit shoots as a kid an I survived and im sure they probably like everything else have since made them smaller and have less sugar in them, considering the fact I used to drink them fairly frequently on like days out and stuff so a one off for a party is definitely not an issue, any parents who have an issue with it can give their kids the water. Although my Dad did have a thing against froot shoots for some reason but he's a health nut 🙈

Take fruit shoots, plus some small bottles of water, but I bet they would all prefer fruit shoots.
Please don't overthink this, its a one afternoon party , come on let them have treats and enjoy themselves.

Innocent smoothies have about 14g of sugar because it’s pure fruit juice; fruit shoots are pure fruit juice mixed with water so only have about 2g in the no added sugar ones. So for a kids party where they will probably have other sugary food I’d choose fruit shoots.

I think fruit shoots are fine but they are quite small and you may go through a lot of them! How about some big bottles of water and some of that squeezy concentrated squash, so the children/parents can choose water or squash?

Depends on the what measure you use. In terms of sugar content they are far worse. Don't fall for the "innocent" marketing! It is still mass produced crap. Any self respecting mother would be juicing the apples from the orchard next to their walled kitchen garden and diluting with water

I used them for mine, but now I’d just get small water bottles.